


Fish In A Frying Pan

by wings_g_leviosa



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fishing Metaphors, Kissing, archie kinda sucks, betty being awesome, jughead jumping to conclusions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-10-12 09:18:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10487430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wings_g_leviosa/pseuds/wings_g_leviosa
Summary: Jughead thought of that fish now, flayed open and bleeding for all to see.He felt just that way. Gutted.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a procrastination one-shot! I saw a prompt where Betty says I love you to Jughead after Archie confesses his feelings? I dunno.
> 
> Also I'd like to thank sarahspoonhands for being my beta. You are a national treasure.

Jughead used to fish all the time with his father, back when he was young and everything was normal. They would go down to the river, the one separating Riverdale and Greendale, fishing poles and tackle boxes in tow. 

Young Jughead felt a roller coaster of emotions when he finally caught his first fish.

He was at first happy to feel the tug of the line in his small hands. His dad commanded him to crank the small handle and pull the line in, standing behind him in case it got to be too much. But it wasn’t. 

They placed the fish in their cooler and brought it home for dinner that night, Jughead’s mother praising him with a baby Jellybean on her hip. And he felt proud. But that pride soon grew into dread and regret.

He sat at the kitchen table, watching his father as he instructed him how to gut and clean his fish. He watched as the scaly skin was stripped away, as the head was cut off and set aside. His eyes watered, and he began to cry just a little bit as the animal’s insides were thrown away into a garbage can at his father’s feet. He had brought upon this animal’s demise, had lead it to it’s death for the benefit of others. His father chided him for being too soft-hearted.

Jughead thought of that fish now, flayed open and bleeding for all to see.

He felt just that way. Gutted. 

“You okay, Jug?” Archie asked, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, shaking slightly. He just cleared his throat and rubbed the pad of his thumb against his nose.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I, um, I have some homework to catch up on. I’ll see you later.” Jughead turned on his heel and went back in the opposite direction of Archie, thankful when his friend didn’t follow him. His mind spun and spun, and it didn’t stop when he walked into Blue And Gold headquarters and flopped down onto on of the chairs scattered around. Unfortunately, Betty was in there working, looking at the murder board at the front of the room.

“Juggie? Are you okay?” She rushes over to sit next to him, her hand resting gently on his forearm.

“Yeah, I’m just great.” His voice was scalding, accusatory. Fish in a frying pan. A look of realization passed over Betty’s face, replaced quickly with another look of caring and sympathy.

“Archie told you, didn’t he? I’m really sorry, Jughead. I wasn’t planning on telling you-”

“So, you weren’t even going to tell me? Don’t you think I should know that my girlfriend is about to leave me the second Archie becomes interested? Am I seriously that disposable.”  
Betty looks upset, but part of Jughead feels satisfaction at the fact. His heart was decomposing, tearing into itself and hurting, hurting, hurting.

“That’s unfair. Please, calm down and let me explain.”

“No need, Betts.” He spits out the nickname. “I think I’ve got it perfect. I hope you and Archie are very happy together.”

Betty tries to cling to his shirt, to grab his wrist, but all attempts were fruitless. Jughead didn’t want her pity, didn’t want her to soften the blow with gentle excuses and professions of what could have been. He stood up and walked away. He walked out the door, oblivious to everything except the need to leave. He hated it; he almost turned back around. 

But Jughead had to pretend, for just a moment, that he wasn’t still the boy who cried over the death of a fish. 

He couldn’t be soft-hearted. 

_

Betty stared out the open door, tracing Jughead’s path with her eyes. She wasn’t angry. She was livid. 

But at who?

Jughead, for storming out and jumping to conclusions? No. She couldn’t bring herself to be angry with him. He, while being a tad dramatic, was justified. 

Archie, for deciding to finally feel something for Betty only after she’d been dating Jughead for months? Probably. Did he really think that after all this time, she’d just come running? Just like that?

But mostly, she was just angry at herself.

Hot, angry tears spilled down her cheeks; she was clenching her jaw so hard her teeth nearly cracked. How could she have possibly lead Jughead to believe she’d leave him just because Archie reared his head? 

“Betty, are you in here?” a voice called out. Betty looked towards the door to see Veronica standing there, looking very worried indeed. 

“Yeah, come in. Sorry, I’m a bit of a mess right now.”

“Are you okay? What’s going on?” The look on Veronica’s face implied she already knew; her and Archie were close, and he probably told her. 

“Archie decides that now, several months after that night of the dance, that he’s going to go ahead and say that he likes me now. And then he decides he’s going to tell Jughead. So now Jughead’s upset because he thinks I’m going to leave him for Archie.” Veronica nods along, rubbing a soothing hand on her shoulder. 

“Did you try talking to Jughead about it? Cause you aren’t going to go back to Archie, are you?” Betty sniffed a little, and scrubbed at her face again.

“I did, but he ran off before I could explain everything. And of course I’m not going back to Archie! Me and Jughead work great together.” A quiet pang of realization hit her, but she ignored it.

“Well, you better go talk to Archie and tell him that. Before he gets his hopes up or something.” Veronica smiles, and offers Betty a tissue from her purse. 

Betty and Archie meet up at the end of school, walking home together.

“Look, Archie, we need to talk.”

“Mmhmm.” She takes a deep breath, releasing it through her nose. 

“I’m really, really flattered that you like me. But I’ve moved on, Arch. It’s… it’s too little, too late.”

Archie doesn’t say anything for a while. And when he does, it’s quiet. 

“What changed? You used to like me too.”

“I’m dating Jughead. He work well together. He’s been there for me during this whole investigation. He went with me to find Polly, we started up the newspaper together. He really gets me.” The same pang from earlier hits her square in the chest, and this time she acknowledged what it meant. 

“I love him,” she mumbled, fingertips touching her lips, just barely.

“What?”

“I love him. I love Jughead.”

“Okay?” Her heart raced, trying to keep up with her mind.

“Do you know where he would be? He got upset earlier and left. I don’t know where to find him.”  
Archie simply shrugged. So, Betty bids him farewell, and leaves him to find her boyfriend.

_

Jughead stares out over the shimmering water before him, reflecting sunlight and giving the appearance of winking. There wasn’t a soul around except him. A flat looking stone catches his attention out of the corner of his eye, and he grabs it, brushing off the dirt. 

It skips across the water three times before finally submerging. 

There was a long point in time after Jason’s murder where nobody except the cops would step foot near the river. Everyone was too afraid. Of what, the list was endless. But all Jughead felt here was calm, and thoughtfulness.

He thinks back again to when him and his father would fish here. He remembers how his nose would peel with sunburn, how his dad’s rough hands mirrored his young ones as they put together their poles. He remembers the river as full of life, yielding mysteries he didn’t yet understand. He remembers never feeling alone. 

He feels alone now. So alone it claws at his insides. 

But then he hears the rocks shifting, and the fight or flight response he’s learned over the past few months kick in. He jumps up and turns to face the intruder, and comes face to face with Betty. Her eyes are wild, and she’s breathing like she’s been running. 

“Betty? What are-” She doesn’t stop to hear his question, instead just grabbing his face and placing a kiss on his lips. Jughead moves to stop her, but fails, instead placing his hand on the base of her neck and kissing back. When they finally pull apart, Betty is smiling, eyes shining. 

“I love you.” His heart stops.

“What?”

“I love you, Jughead. I think I have for a while,” she says quietly, taking hold of one of Jughead’s hands. He squeezes it back, pulling Betty closer to him. 

“I love you, too. You know that. But what brought all this on? How did you find me so fast?”

“You were upset. Obviously you wouldn’t go somewhere public. Also you mentioned how you like to come here sometimes.” They both lowered down to sit down on the ground. Betty turns so they’re turned in towards each other.

“You didn’t give me the chance to explain earlier. I know Archie likes me now or whatever, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to just go running. I have a commitment to you. We’ve put in the work together to make this relationship as great as it is. I’m not going to just thrown that all away the second an old flame comes crawling back.” Jughead leans his head on her shoulder, rubbing his fingers across the knuckles of her left hand. 

“I’m sorry for storming out and yelling at you. I know the whole Archie thing isn’t your fault. I just got really scared. For almost as long as I can remember, it was you and him that were endgame. I never even thought we’d get as far together as we have.”

“To be honest, if someone told me last year that me and you would be dating, I would have laughed. But unpredictability is sometimes a good thing.” She smiled a little smile, and it smoothed over the little splinters and hang ups in Jughead’s brain. He surges forward to press their lips together, a little more gentle than the last one. The setting sun is warm on his back, and Betty’s lips are warm on his. 

And he doesn’t feel alone anymore.

They pull apart slowly, grins plastered on their faces. 

“Are you sure you love me? You only have a few more minutes to take it back.”

“Shut up!” Betty laughs and shoves Jughead’s shoulder, sending him tumbling into the rocks. They laughed and laughed until their stomachs hurt and the sun began setting below the horizon. And as Jughead dropped Betty off at her house that night with a squeeze to her hand, he whispered a short phrase to her.

“I really love you, Betty Cooper.” She kissed him again, and they parted ways.

And as Jughead Jones lay in bed that night, he felt different. He felt happy, and loved, and wanted.

And in that moment, he wasn’t a fish in a frying pan anymore. He was just free, his heart in the river, alive and beautiful.


End file.
